Futsal causing violence in Kathmandu

Futsal causing violence in Kathmandu


From arresting people with long hair, tattoos and piercing, the government has come up with one more reason for a face palm.

It was a normal morning until the first things that came to my news feed this morning on Facebook was a post from Dhuku Futsal Hub which goes something like this:


I was not so surprised to hear about it cause I've heard Futsal's closing down because of drug abuse at Futsal venues. I just never though it would happen on a general large scale, but it did. Reports say that they have closed down 51 futsal venues.

Lets take a look into some online news to see why these bans have been opposed. 

OnlineKhabar says the neighbours have complained about the disturbance from futsal venues. It also talks about parents being involved, something also reported by Kantipur. According to Ekantipur, it says guardians have complained about betting, drug use and distraction from studies. Now get ready for the reasons why I think there are so many other things that should go down and not futsal.

Taking the complaints of neighbours, I assume they are talking about the evenings. I can't deny that many futsal grounds lie in residential zones. I also cannot deny the fact that many college and schools lie in residential zones. Both these places are prone to drug use or whatever terrible stuff you can come up with cause it is a social institution where young minds meet. They make a lot of noise in these institutions. One place has a lot of shouts with people running, kicking, shouting, screaming and you hear the word 'ball' a lot. The other institution is not too different in breaks plus the ringing of bells, an atmosphere of loud conversation, karate classes, music lessons, nursery rhymes and what not. Where there will be kids, there will be noise.

If you think Futsal causes distractions from studies, you are right cause it does. Human Right Article 24 gives you the right to play. This is the whole point of the beautiful game. FIFA runs grassroots projects all around the world so they can bring together children of age group from 6 to 12 to avoid violence. Who knows what children are going through at home or school. In Kathmandu, some schools take children for a game of futsal in their P.E. lessons and hold futsal tournaments. Parents cannot expect children to study all the time. If you want to know, there is a flaw in the education system where kids in school have a heavy 10 AM to 5 PM schedule. Kids have high adrenaline and are in their adolescence. They need sports like futsal to keep their minds occupied so that they are not involved with drugs, "NOT GET INTO DRUGS".

Meanwhile in Nepal, Futsal is causing violence. Are you kidding me?

Though thinking of the betting part, I've been there and done that. It is fun when you have a good team and you always win. However it is bad when someone plays drugged or drunk. When we get a lot of physicality in the game, there's a lot of aggressive exchange of words and some crunchy tackles. Sometimes you can't pay for the game you've lost and a bad game hampers the good relationships among friends. There have been days when I had to face an angry uncle cause I was the one to take my friend to the hospital when his ligament got torn. How many days in bed is that?

Getting home late after a game of futsal is bad. Parents worry too much and they have every right to do so. Parents hate it so much is when one someone abruptly says he is not coming home and is staying at a friends place just for the night. They probably think what we are doing is buying a carton of beer. The thing wrong is what they suspect rather than what is actually happening. Parents need to calm down and stop complaining cause they are taking away one of the things we love.

This current generation needs to understand that futsal is a lifestyle. How stupid does it sound when you say our country is depriving young children from getting involved in an indoor sporting activity. Do you really expect children to build a computer out of your garage when you keep imposing stupid rules and restrict children from playing? If people are smart enough, they would look for the solution. If kids are the problem, I would suggest taking the kids out of the picture for a while and letting at least adults play. It is sad to hear though that children are using their school fee's to pay for a game of futsal. So here are a few things that I think the government should do.

Please do not impose a legal age for futsal. I beg you. Also, kids should never have to worry about playing a game of futsal. Futsal for kids should be government funded. I think futsal is itself a part of the education and growing up. It is important, it really is. I think there is an awful lot wrong with parenting if that is where the complaint comes from. Is there anything else you could do? You could actually open up some public basketball courts, volleyball courts, cricket grounds, swimming pools or infrastructures for other sports. We need parks to run around. Ratna Park is not enough.

Anything wrong with the current state of futsal needs to be solved quickly. The solution is not there in closing down the venues at all. I was rather glad of the fact that we have such densely populated futsal venues inside Kathmandu and the game is spreading throughout the country. Let us not forget that futsal is a game for all ages and it keeps us healthy and fit.

Sort it out our dear government. You've got this totally wrong.

Writer: Abish Shakya
Follow me on Twitter: @abishakya
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